TENNIS
Who does Coco Gauff play against in the final at the 2024 China Open? Opponent, time, date
Gauff will contest her first final for nine months at the China Open after beating Paula Badosa in three sets.
A spirited comeback from former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff saw the American beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 4-6 6-4 6-2 at the China Open semi-final in Beijing on Saturday and set up a final with Czech Karolina Muchova and the 20-year-old American is the youngest China Open finalist since Caroline Wozniacki (20) in 2010.
Badosa broke to go 3-2 up, but Gauff fought back, making it 4-4 after a marathon game where Badosa saved 10 break points, but a persistent Gauff ultimately prevailed.
The world number 19 re-took the lead with a quick break in the very next game and held her own serve to win the set.
Badosa broke again in the first game of the second set and almost built a 4-1 lead, but Gauff saved four break points to hold on and from that point, confidence kicked in as Gauff failed to let another game slip in the set as she seized momentum, landing more precise shots across the court, with Badosa not winning a single point as Gauff broke her in the last game.
In the third set, the 20-year-old broke twice to build a 4-1 lead, hitting two aces as her powerful forehands eluded an increasingly exhausted Badosa as Gauff sealed victory with another break.
Tough contest as Muchova awaits
“It was just a tough match... I just tried to stay focused. Mentally I tried to reset. I got down a couple of times but I tried to bounce back,” Gauff said in her post-match interview. “I had tough opponents the whole tournament. Happy to be in the final.”
In the second semi-final, Karolina Muchova was fully in control against Paris 2024 Olympics gold medallist Zheng Qinwen, who suffered a hard fall in the opening set and took a lengthy medical timeout.
Zheng, 21, provided a degree of resistance in the second set, but 49th-ranked Muchova took a 4-2 lead before sealing her place in a sixth WTA final with a 6-3 6-4 victory over the Chinese fifth seed.
Muchova, in only her seventh tournament back after suffering a wrist injury at the 2023 U.S. Open, continues to put on impressive performances.
The 28-year-old reached the U.S. Open semi-finals in September and on Friday ended top seed and three-times Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak in the China Open quarter-final.
Sunday final
The final between the fourth seeded Gauff and her Czech opponent is set to commence at 06:00 am (ET) on Sunday, 6 October.